(urth) Patera Incus

[James Wynn]

>> James Wynn-
>> 1.1.1 First attempt.
>> Incus writes a note to explain why he can't come to the Black Mechanics
>> meeting. The letter has two parts italicized (probably underlined in
>> Incus's actual letter):
>> _a woman_ and _myself_"
>> Incus thinks, "_Myself_ standing for _I_, as even that fool Fulmar could
>> not help but understand"
> Roy C. Lackey-
> The two underlined parts of the note are not related. The first refers to
> the object of the mission Remora sent him on. Incus is mildly scandalized
> that his boss is sending him, an augur, in search of a woman of ill repute.
> Augurs are not supposed to associate with strange women outside of their
> priestly duties.

??? This is a strange argument.
It would be mildly scandalous to be alone with a woman in an augur's 
residence at night. It would not be at all wrong for augurs to be in the 
casual presence of women with more than two people present. Remora and 
Quetzal are in the casual presence of women all the time. Incus is not 
at all misogynistic as the phrase in the first letter implied. The time 
spent with Chenille and the desire to see Bittersweet's demonstration is 
evidence enough of that. That part of the letter was disingenuous. It 
was a PLOY to work the term "a woman" into the  letter with emphasis.

> On top of that, Incus is evidently homosexual, which makes
> his mission even more ironic. He obviously dares not sign the note, so the
> _Myself_ is his way of communicating who wrote it. The other contents of the
> note impart enough information for Fulmar to understand who the Myself is --

Then why include "myself"?

> given the planned meeting that night of the black mechanics, at which
> Bittersweet was to demonstrate her latest technique.
>> 1.1.2 Second Attempt. This time Incus disguises his handwriting.
>> "You know, my friend, yet it might be more thoughtully be said that you
>> cannot know, how much I have been looking forward to a _plain firsthand
>> account_ of the marvelous adventures of our mutual acquaintance Bee. Bee
>> himself.
> The _plain firsthand account_ refers to Incus's fervent desire to witness
> for himself Bittersweet's new technique, as indicated by his thoughts right
> before he first picked up the quill.

The only parallel between the two letters is "myself" (which positively 
refers to Incus) and "himself" (which is a positive misdirection). 
Considering what Incus said in the first letter, "himself" refers to the 
same person.

>> Incus thinks, "No, it would not do. Fulmar would be utterly thrown off
>> the scent by _the male pronoun_." [emphasis mine]
>> Question how does the male pronoun throw Fulmar "off the scent"? Off the
>> scent of what?
>> Answer: Off the scent of the name _Bee_.
> I agree with that sentence, anyway. Incus doesn't want to betray the
> identity of a fellow black mechanic, so he writes "Bee" because that is the
> sound of the first letter in Bittersweet as well as the initial.The masculine
> pronoun was a further attempt to disguise her identity should the
> note be intercepted. The altered handwriting was also an attempt to hide
> Incus's identity, since Remora was familiar with his handwriting.

But now there is no way for Fulmar to know who is writing the letter 
now. That was what was so important before, no?


> The first version of the note said what Incus wanted to say, as indicated by his satisfaction with it, but was too risky. He abandoned both notes in favor of delivering an oral message to Fulmar's chem valet.

All this fails to address why an elaborate message was required in the 
first place. Incus could have just sent a note saying "I regret that I 
cannot make it tonight due to duties at work".

> I don't suppose it matters that masculine pronouns are used to describe
> Incus in the list of  characters at the front of the book.

No. That would be an utterly trivial argument. Maytera Marble is 
described as "she" in the list of characters in front of the book-- the 
prononun is strictly formal. She is not physically a woman.

u+16b9